Addictions
by soccerchick13
Summary: Everyone has addictions. They need to either accept them, or fight through them. Whats Tony's and Pepper's? Rated T for safety.
1. Blueberries & Advice

Disclaimer: I don't own Ironman or characters

Disclaimer: I don't own Ironman or characters.

AN: Hello all. So I haven't wrote any fan fiction in a very long time, but today somehow I find myself sitting at the computer staring at an empty word doc. I really have no idea where this is going, I'm actually making it up as I go, might not even post it. If I do, I guess it means it turned into something that can remotely be described as literature.

- o –

Pepper Potts entered Tony's house around 10 pm, after what can only be described as a day in hell. She wearily followed Tony, as he literally swaggered into the living room and dropped onto the couch, smiling broadly the whole time.

"That went well," he said with a grin.

Pepper calmly sat down on the chair across from him and glared. "You couldn't stick to the cards, could you Mr. Stark? Just like S.H.I.E.L.D asked? Why couldn't you say the story about you being on a yacht, and that Ironman is your body guard?"

"Oh come on. Can you really seeing me doing that? I just think that-"

"You _thought_? Did you really think at all, Mr. Stark?" Pepper cut him off, quite unlike her usual self. She sighed as Tony continued to look like a five year old boy on Christmas Eve. Today at the press conference Tony announced to the world that he was in fact Ironman, without so much as a heads up in Peppers direction. For the next eight hours they were stuck in that room, as more and more reporters arrived and continually bombarded not only Tony, but Pepper with questions. In her opinion it was emotionally and physically draining. Tony on the other hand, seemed to live off the attention; he was practically glowing with glee.

Tony smirked, "It's not so bad. It might actually be better this way."

"How on earth, is the world knowing that you are a metal flying superhero a good thing?"

"Well think about it. I can now fly to pick up groceries, think about all the traffic I'll miss," Tony quipped.

Pepper smiled in spit herself, and relaxed a little bit. "You don't pick up your own groceries," she sighed.

Tony laughed in response and got to his feet. "Anyways I'm going down to the shop," he informed.

Pepper nodded and stood up as well. "I'm going home. See you tomorrow Mr. Stark."

"Oh no you're not, you look exhausted. Sleep here tonight, in one of the spare rooms so you don't have to drive," he offered.

Pepper considered this carefully. She would love to be in bed in under ten minutes, but she didn't know what he was up to, especially lately, with his more then obvious hitting on her to get their relationship past boss/employee.

"Don't worry, I am not going to do anything fishy, I'm just being nice. Unless of course you want me to," Tony wiggled his eyebrows while saying this.

Pepper held back a laugh, he looked ridicules. She started walking up the stairs and called over her shoulder, "Goodnight Mr. Stark."

"Good night, Miss. Potts."

- o –

A beam of light fell onto Peppers face, causing her to slowly wake up. Checking the time, she was shocked to see she was asleep for almost eleven hours, it was nine in the morning. Yawning and stretching, she quickly climbed out of the spare bed, and wandered into the spare washroom to take a quick shower. Afterwards she picked out fresh clothes (thank goodness she kept extra clothes here, in case of over nighters like this), and brusquely went downstairs to start making coffee before Tony woke up. When she got to the kitchen however, she was shocked to find a very dishevelled Tony leaning against the counter with a brown paper bag in his hands.

"You're up early," Pepper commented.

Tony handed Pepper a muffin out of the bag. "I decided to get us breakfast today. It's blueberry, your favourite."

Pepper sat down at the table where he joined her, and started to pick the muffin apart, setting the blueberries in one pile, and the rest of the muffin in the other. "You went out looking like that?" she teased, but with a fair point.

Tony scratched his head making his hair stand up even more then it was before. "Yeah, well I had to basically run for my life, the whole city was following me, asking me questions," Tony paused. "And advice. Can you believe that? Random strangers that I have never talked to before, were asking me _advice._ Me. Since when did I become the latest Dr, Phil?"

Pepper looked at him, and saw him sipped his coffee, looking honestly confused and bewildered. "Well, you are a new shiny superhero. To them, you are Superman. Can't do any wrong, and who knows all. Not to be pessimistic, but you brought this on yourself," she explained. When Tony remained quiet she added, "Thanks for the muffin and coffee."

Tony chuckled, "Sorry. I thought you liked blueberry, but from the looks of it I got it wrong." Still laughing, he pointed at Peppers now disassembled muffin, all the blueberries picked off.

"Oh, it is my favourite. I always do this. This way I can save the blueberries for last, to enjoy it more," she tried to explain rationally.

He gave her a strange look, and continued to sip his coffee, while Pepper began to blush. Hurriedly eating her muffin now, to escape his gaze, Pepper stood up, thanked him for the breakfast one last time, and sped walked to her office.

- o –

Today was almost a tiring as yesterday. It was only noon, and already she hung up on over one hundred reporters calling, and got over an astonishing three hundred emails. Tony was a popular guy, but this was a whole new level. The phone starting ringing again, and Pepper sighed. This was getting out of hand. She stood up and followed the phone cord, looking for where it plugged into the wall. It led her under the desk, so Pepper, really wanted to silence the ringing, got on her hands and knees and crawled under the desk, finally find the outlet. Laughing evilly to herself, she unplugged it.  
"Well this is a spectacular view," came a voice from behind her, causing her to jump and hit her head on the table. Still on the ground she turned to she Tony leaning against the wall, looking at her, or rather where her bottom was a few minutes before. She glared at him rubbing her head. How did he _do_ that? He could be so quiet when he wanted to be. "Ouch, that looked like it hurt," Tony held out his hand to Pepper, which she took with as much dignity as possible.

"No thanks to you, Mr. Stark," Pepper righted herself back onto her chair hand still on her head.

Tony laughed, "So what were you doing down there anyways?"

"Unplugging the phone, I'm tired of picking it up, and I decided if you needed me you could call my cell."

He nodded, and then his gaze shifted over to her still open laptop. "Wow. That's a lot of emails," he commented looking at the screen. "All asking about life as Ironman, I'm assuming?"

"Some of them," Pepper hesitated. "Actually most are asking for your opinions on things."

Tony snorted and rolled his eyes, "What things?"

"Oh you know. If the neighbour hood they live in is safe, if they should up their security system… If they are raising their child well."

"What? Seriously? Gosh, how am I suppose to know? That's totally outrageous! That's as ridiculous as it gets, right?" he asking worryingly.

"Well, some of them are quite crazy. Asking things that you would never know."

"Such as?" he pressed.

"If their significant other will get over a disease, who they should marry, should the quit their job… Totally crazy."

Tony looked positively freaked out.

"Mr. Stark, sit down," Pepper requested.

Tony sat.

"So far, I have not answered any of these emails, but I just wanted to double check with you that's what you wanted."

"Of course that's what I want! Ignore all of them! I can't possibly know this! I'm not a god! Just some guy in a suit… Just trying to fix what he messed up…" Tony trailed off, his anger gone as quickly as it came.

"Okay, Mr. Stark. I'll keep doing that."

Silence.

Finally Tony looked around, cleared his throat quietly, and stood up. "Clear my schedule for today, Pepper. I'm going to the shop." With that, he turned around and walked out of the room.

Pepper sighed and felt sorry for her boss. He has every right to be stressed. People asking him things like that, when all he is, when you come down to it, is an engineer. She noticed that every since he has got back from his captivity, he spent a larger amount of time then necessary in his shop. Sure, at first it made sense, he was building a suit. And then once he was done, he was learning how to use it, and work out any problems. And she might even be willing to believe he was updating it, making it better. But now? He was always there. Before he would almost be annoying, constantly buzzing around her (in a charming way she will admit), and now, she gave him his coffee in the morning, and that was all she would see of Tony Stark.

And as much as she didn't want to say it, she missed him. Missed everything about him, even his usually awkward sexual innuendos. Still it was better that he was keeping himself preoccupied in the shop then his old habits. Pepper definitely didn't miss the days when he was home every night with a different girl, and smelling like alcohol.

Pepper looked up at the computer to see five new emails already. She sighed, and read them, all of them utterly insane, asking his advice on god knows what. Thinking about Tony, she deleted them, and thought how long this phase was going to last.


	2. Icepacks & Questions

Disclaimer: I do not own Ironman or characters

AN: So I finally decided the plot for this story! Yay! Please read and enjoy, thank you to all reviewers.

- o –

Pepper sighed and shut up the laptop, and looked at the time. It was already nine pm. She closed her red eyes and rubbed her face, she felt positively exhausted. With a pang, she realized she didn't see Tony since earlier, when he announced he was going to the shop. She had grabbed food for herself around two, and hopped he did the same for him. Standing, she quickly started walking to the kitchen, looking for something to feed Tony with. She doubted he got something for himself; he was like a child really, probably would starve to death, waiting for Pepper to bring him food. She looked into the fridge and was relieved to see pizza leftovers, from when, she really didn't know. She warmed a couple of slices up, and grabbed a can of coke. Bringing all this downstairs to the shop, Pepper balanced her cargo while she punched in the code. She saw Tony sitting at a table tinkering with something, as always.

"Hello, Mr. Stark," she called, announcing her arrival. "I wasn't sure if you ate dinner, so I brought some food for you."

Tony swivelled in his chair to face her, and smiled, "I already thought you forgot about little old me, down here all alone."

Pepper passed him the plate and the coke, "You have Jarvis. Besides I was busy dealing with more emails."

Pepper saw his smile slip off his face. "Still totally absurd?" he asked quietly.

She sighed and nodded. "I deleted more of those then you're willing to know," she explained, watching his expression carefully.

Tony was silent for a minute or two, as he quickly devoured the pizzas and chugged the coke. "Well Pepper, I'm heading out tonight, have a good night," he said with enthusiasm, and hitched a smile back onto his face, but Pepper noticed it looked fake.

"Going to Rhodey's, Mr. Stark?" Pepper asked.

He looked at her sharply, more so then usual. "Why is it, you never call me Tony anymore? Always Mr. Stark," he mumbled.

Pepper blushed a little bit, she didn't think he noticed. It was just her effort to keep their relationship professional. "Well, goodnight, Mr. Stark. Tell Rhodey I say hi," she turned and quickly got out of the shop, before he could ask about the name thing again. Sighing, Pepper let herself into her car, thinking working with him was slowly getting more and more awkward. No maybe that was the wrong word. Things were hardly ever awkward with Tony. It was getting more unprofessional. Still, she was happy he was going to Rhodey's, under this new found stress, he needed to lean on a friend. Looking forward to going home and going to bed, Pepper decided to push all thoughts of work out of her head, and relax for the rest of the night.

As if.

She sighed again, as her thoughts still swirled over Tony, Stark Industries, and now this new Ironman thing. Mostly Tony. No matter how much she hated it, she could never keep her mind off him for more then a few minutes. She eventually had to face the simple fact, her life revolved around him.

- o –

Humming to herself, Pepper let herself into Tony's mansion the next morning. Walking inside she could already hear music drifting in from downstairs; Tony was already working in the shop. She glanced quickly around the kitchen, and saw no dirty plates, meaning Tony didn't feed himself again. Hesitating for a moment, Pepper decided to quickly check her email, then grab food for him. She wanted to see how many emails they got over night. Still humming she was logging onto her computer when-

"Um, excuse me?" an obnoxious voice behind her asked.

Pepper jumped and looked behind her to see a very confused looking woman, wearing one of Tony's t-shirts.

"Oh, hello. Sorry, I didn't see you earlier," Pepper said still holding a hand to her chest, while in her head all she could think was, "_Oh no. Not another one of these. This isn't happening again, is it?_"

"I was just wondering if you knew where Tony was," the mystery woman replied.

"Let me go find him for you." Pepper stood up and started walking out of the room, but then paused at the door. "So, did you meet Mr. Stark at Rhodey's?" she asked over her shoulder.

"What? No, I don't even know who that is. We met at some club, last night."

Pepper felt her heart sink, and smiled at the woman. "Of course. I'll be right back with Mr. Stark in a moment."

Pepper furiously walked down the stairs towards his shop. Only now did she realize that the music was playing way too quietly for everything to be normal. Looking through the glass walls she saw Tony lying on his back on a couch, with an ice pack on his forehead. Punching in the code, Pepper let herself in, and turned the music off completely. Tony wearily lifted his head to see the sudden cause of silence.

"Ah, Pepper, how are you this fine morning?" he asked, closing his eyes.

"Well Mr. Stark, I do have some questions for you. A few being, why did you tell you were going to Rhodey's when you weren't, who is that woman upstairs, and _why_ do you have an icepack on your face?" she asked, knowing she was defiantly crossing the professional relationship line. She should stop asking questions, or more, stop accusing him, and asked him what he needed, and get back to work. But she was mad, and wanted answers.

Tony answered with his eyes still closed, "First of all, Pepper, I never said I was going to Rhodey's, you did. I, in fact went to a nice little place that I happen to know, and the woman, is someone I met at said place." He became silent.

"And the icepack?" she pressed her voice quite icy, ironically.

"You know what, Pep? I don't really know. I must have hit my head at some point or something, because I have a bump and it hurts like hell. Cant tell you how I got it though, don't know myself," he peeked an eye open to look at her. "Anymore questions? He asked quietly.

Pepper felt herself melt a little bit, just looking into one of his puppy eyes. She knelt down beside him. "Let me see," she insisted.

Tony removed the icepack to reveal a rather large, angry looking purple bruise. Tittering slightly, Pepper took the ice herself and held it place for Tony, who seemed to relax more.

"What do you want me to do with her?" she asked quietly knowing full well he knew who she meant. "I told her I would find you for her."

Tony smirked slightly, "Um, cant you do what you normally do? You know, send them on their way, without me having to deal with them?"

Pepper considered this. She wouldn't have had an issue with it before Tony came back from captivity, but it hadn't happened in so long, she had being to think that he changed. That he became more responsible. But if he can't change, then maybe she should. She could become less dependable.

"I'll do it only if you can answer me one thing."

"And what's that, Pepper?"

She smiled to herself. "What's her name?"

"Shit," Tony muttered. "Ask me the one thing I don't know. Come on, Pep, my head is killing me," he pleaded.

"Fine, Mr. Stark, but next time I would like more of a warning, so I won't be surprised when I get here." So much for her being less dependable.

Tony broke into a true smile, "Thank you, you're a gift from heaven, did you know that?"

Pepper sighed and went upstairs to do Tony's dirty work for him.

- o –

Pepper went home that night only seeing Tony once more that day. He was sitting on the couch watching the news, and drinking a scotch when she left, which gave her a horrible feeling. Since escaping from captivity, there were many habits that Tony dropped instantly, without so much as a second thought. Womanizing being one of them, but that came back today. He also stopped all drinking whatsoever. Not even the occasional drink at home, always a coke, or water. This too made a reappearance. She couldn't help worrying about him, and what this new found attention of Ironman was doing to him. Finally deciding that his endless line of woman might be coming back into swing (which she could deal with), and it is totally normal for any human being to have one occasional drink at home, watching TV, Pepper sat on her couch feeling more cheerful. Pouring herself a glass of wine, (see, everyone had a drink every once and a while, even her,) Pepper turned on the TV to the news, and almost choked on her drink.

On her TV screen was Tony, wearing what he was wearing last night and obviously drunk, his arm thrown over the shoulders of Miss Mystery Woman that was found today. Pepper focused on what the newscaster was saying.

"Last night Tony Stark, owner of Stark Industries, and newly revealed as Ironman, could be found wandering the streets, shamelessly intoxicated. Mr. Stark, is the new and most famous celebrity of this city, was handling the attention quite well last night." The clip cut to hordes of people bombarding Tony with questions, which causing him to flat out run in the other direction, pulling the woman by the hand behind him. The newscaster continued, "The citizens all have different comments to Starks last nights adventures." Again it cut to random people, obviously stopped on the street. The comments ranged from supportive to disapproving.

"Of course he is out partyin', the guys a fricken superhero, I would celebrate too," a young guy in dreadlocks said.

"I think he is a disgrace! People are looking up to him now, he can't be caught doing those types of things anymore!" an old lady practically spat.

Pepper sighed as the newscaster picked up where she left off, "In any case, no one was surprised to see no signs of Ironman last night. In other news, a local church group has raising an outstanding…"

Pepper turned off the news, and thought if there was anyway possible that Tony didn't see that on TV. Of course he did, he was watching that station when she left. She sighed, and then tried to make herself feel better. Even if he did see it, that didn't mean anything. This was Tony she was thinking about, since when did he care what people thought about him? He never did, and she was sure he never would. But then again, she was sure he never would go back to his old habits. Struggling with these thoughts, Pepper got off the couch and got ready for bed. If Tony saw the news, and how he reacted to it, those where things that couldn't be answered until work tomorrow.

AN: So I'm excited about this now that I know where it's going, I hope I caught a few peoples interest so far. Anyways while writing this chapter I discovered that my delete button doesn't work! Which totally sucks, and makes me sad. But, reviews make me happy, so you have the power to cheer me up! (hint hint)


	3. Heart Attacks & More Blueberries

Disclaimer: I do not own Ironman or characters

Disclaimer: I do not own Ironman or characters.

AN: Thank you to all who reviewed, it is deeply appreciated.

- o –

Pepper woke up the next morning, half expecting a message from Tony on her phone, telling her to be prepared for another woman visitor. However there were no messages whatsoever, and she felt a little guilty about doubting him. So what if yesterday was a blast from the past? That doesn't mean things are going to happen like they did before. Feeling somewhat sheepish, Pepper got ready for work, already making a mental list of her things to do today.

She arrived at work, feeling much more refreshed and energized then she had in the past few days. When she entered the house she didn't hear any music wafting up from downstairs, meaning Tony was still asleep, which was definitely a good thing. He always got out of bed early whenever he wanted to avoid certain women. She decided to make coffee for herself and Tony, seeing as she didn't yesterday. Pepper was pouring water into the kettle when-

"Aw man, you beat me here," a voice groaned behind her.

Pepper leapt around to see Tony standing behind her, dressed, and holding another bag of sorts.

"Will you stop that?" Pepper said, trying to calm down her heart rate. When Tony gave her a questioning look, she continued, "It's just that everyone keeps sneaking up on the lately, mostly you, and I feel like I'm going to get a heart attack!"

Tony laughed, "Maybe they aren't sneaking up on you, maybe you're just not paying attention." Still laughing he added, "What were you thinking about, that had you so deep in thought, you couldn't hear me stampeding behind you?" he asked.

Pepper knew it was a rhetorical question, but considering as she was thinking about how cute Tony looked when he woke up, and his hair was sticking up all over the place, she blushed deeply. "What's in the bag?" she asked before he could question the sudden color in her cheeks.

"Breakfast." Tony sat down at the table, and Pepper joined him. "I got you, a muffin! How creative am I?"

Laughing Pepper accepted the muffin from him, and was a little disappointed to see it was a plain one.

Tony seemed to pick up on this, because he smiled, "Don't worry, I also got you…" he paused dramatically as he reached into the bag. "Blueberries!" he exclaimed and pulled out a separate little box of the berries.

Pepper laughed again, "Mr. Stark! You could have just gotten me a blueberry muffin like the other day!"

Chuckling, he responded, "I could have, but then you would have to work for your precious berries, and I don't want my assistant working harder then she has to."

Pepper picked at her muffing, while Tony started chomping on his bagel. Now that she was in close range to him, for the first time today, she saw that his eyes were a little red. Not a good sign. He didn't go out last night, but he definitely had too much to drink on his own.

"What?" he asked, noticing her staring at him. "Noticing my good looks for the first time, are we?" he chuckled.

Pepper gave a little smile, "No Mr. Stark, I was just thinking about something."

A light bulb seemed to go off in Tony's head, because he immediately broke eye contact, and looked away. "Well, Pep, I'm off to the shop. See you later."

He got up and went downstairs before she had a chance to respond. Pepper sat by herself, slowly eating her blueberries.

- o –

So far in the day, Pepper had literally done no work whatsoever, which was a first for her. She was sitting on the couch, thinking. She tried to get some work done, but her mind kept drifting back to Tony. She wanted to do something, not just sit in the corner and criticise him, but do something to help. She remembered when not too long ago, Tony was obsessed with his new direction in life. Something about, 'only the next mission matters, and nothing else.' When he said that to her, she saw a whole new side of him, one that she never saw before. He was so passionate about it, and so honest. He talked about knowing in his heart he was right, and he was so… _pure._ That's the only word she could think of. And Pepper knew, she wanted that back, she wanted the Tony Stark back that was trying to right his wrongs, and talked from his heart. Sighing, Pepper thought of an idea, but she knew it Tony could totally interrupt it the wrong way, maybe thinking she wanted more out of the relationship, which she didn't. Still if it meant quitting her job, Pepper would do it anyways, she wanted to help her boss, and more importantly her friend, out of this obviously rough patch he was going through.

Standing up, Pepper walked down into his shop, to see Tony sitting on the couch downstairs watching the news.

"Hello, Mr. Stark," she called.

"Hey Pepper! Didn't expect to see you till this evening," he turned off the TV.

"Well, today is a little slower then most, so I wanted to come and visit you," Pepper smiled.

Tony just gave her a blank sort of stare.

Feeling more than slightly awkward, Pepper started walking around the shop, until she stopped at the Ironman suit. "Was it hard to learn how to fly?"

Tony answered, still on the couch, "It took some getting use to. The balance was the trickiest thing I guess."

Pepper turned to face him. "Show me," she almost demeaned.

"What?"

"Just you know, fly, or um, hover or whatever you want to call it. Just here, in the shop. Talk me through it."

"Why?"

Pepper sighed. Wasn't someone full of questions? "I'm interested."

He didn't move off the couch.

Pepper tried again, "This Ironman thing, it's important to you, and I want to be more involved. I want to be more part of it."

"Why?" he asked again.

"Because, if it's important to you, it's important to me."

Tony smiled, and stood up. "Okay," he muttered, "fair enough."

So Tony showed Pepper, parts of the Ironman suit. First he showed her the boots, and explained in simple terms to Pepper. He showed her how he could fly by the using the boots. Then he explained the problem he ran into, that he couldn't balance properly, and showed her the hand controls. He even put one on her palm, so she could feel how much power it generates at 1.

"Okay, put it on, I want to see you fly around all superman like," Pepper insisted. "Don't put on the whole suit though, I want you to be able to talk to me."

Tony smiled, and looked genuinely pleased. As he was putting on the boots (or more like the machines putting it on for him) Pepper smiled to herself. Tony seemed much more relaxed, and it looked like he was having a great time, which was her plot all along. Just as Tony got on the boots, and the hand controls, her cell phone started to ring.

"Oh, sorry Mr. Stark, this will take one minute," Pepper quickly located her phone on one of the tables. She looked at the I.D to see it was her mom calling.

"Hello?"

"Oh Virginia!" it was her mom in tears.

"Mom! What's wrong?!" Pepper asked hurriedly.

"It's your father! He had a heart attack and he is in the hospital! I already called your brother, but he won't be here until next week!" she explained in hysterics.

Pepper sat down, and felt tears welling up in her eyes, "Oh mom! Don't worry, I'll be in Washington as soon as I can! I'll take the next flight out, and I'll call you from the airport! Shhhh mom, don't cry!" Pepper tried in vain to calm down her mom.

Tony watched from a distance, and a few minutes later, Pepper hung up the phone, obviously fighting tears. "Is everything all right?" he asked knowing full well the answer.

"Oh, it's my dad. He is in the hospital. I'm so sorry for the short notice, but I have to leave, as soon as I can, and go home," she explained.

"Hey, you don't have to apologize. Go. Take as long as you need. Just call me, or something, so I know everything is okay," Tony said while taking off the boots he just finished putting on.

"I'm really sorry," she squeaked again.

"It's okay. I'll manage without you. I'm not that hopeless. Want me to drive you to the airport?"

"No, that's alright. I'll get in touch with you as soon as I can," Pepper said, and then quickly left.

Tony sighed, and looked around the now empty room. His eyes wandered over everything until they stopped on a bottle of scotch. He sighed again. It was going to be another long night.

- o-

AN: I hoped you enjoyed! I don't know anything about Peppers family, so I'm creating my own version. And I don't know where she lives either, so I picked Washington. While I was writing this chapter, I got a total brainwave for the next few chapters, I'm so excited! I hope you guys are too! Please review so I know if this is worth continuing.


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